Education is universally recognised as an inevitable tool for the development of the society. It is also a tool for getting rid of ignorance. Despite its importance in development, there are still several misconception about education in Nigeria, many people define education in quantities rather than qualitative terms. This means that paper qualification is substituted for knowledge acquisition. In other words, certificate acquisition has been highly rated at the expense of knowledge and skill acquisition. This negates the international view of education. In Nigeria a person who acquires certificate is ranked better and valued more than the person without it. This happens without regards to how the person acquired it and irrespective of whether he/she possesses the requisite knowledge and skill. Surprisingly Nigerians have many ways of acquiring certificates. It is easier for a Nigerian to get a certificate from Toronto University than a Canadian. The government is not helping matters in erasing this certificate syndrome. Sometime last year, the federal government called for application from unemployed graduates who hold first class or a second class degrees. Those without grades were not only disqualified but also condemned to unemployment. There is nothing wrong with employing the best. It helps to achieve efficiency, better skill, it will spur those in academic field to work harder in order to make good grades. However Nigerian educational system is corrupt for the acceptance of the certificate coming from it on their face value. It is not proper to use such certificate as a yardstick for the potential of our graduates. This is because a lot of irregularities occur in the course of acquiring basic education in modern day Nigeria.

Today class assignment and exam are no longer the major determinants of students result. After every test and exam, student prefer to go through a ritual called sorting. ‘Sorting’ is the practice of giving money to one’s lecturer in order to influence one’s result while it is made compulsory by some lecturers. There are situations in which students willingly approach them for such. Whether the lecturer makes sorting compulsory or the student solicits for it, the end result is a good grade. Sometimes shameless male lecturers force female student into illicit love affair, their refusal goes a long way to determine their fate in the course handled by such morally deficient male lecturer. At other times the reverse becomes the carse. Academically weak female students approach male lecturers to barter sex with good grades. Whether male lecturers or the female students initiated the transaction, it is geared towards making good result, with these irregularities the certificate issued by the institution of higher learning becomes questionable. After all the result obtained at the end of each semester make up the final result which the certificate bears. So how can the certificate and grades they bear be considered a true reflection of the candidate’s performance? Worse still, most parents want their children to graduate at all cost. To achieve this, they go as far as hiring people to write exams for their wards. During such external exams like the Senior School Certificate Examination  (SSCE), Jamb, Polyjamb etc, it is a common practice, this explains the loss of confidence on such exams by the universities who decide to subject the successful ones to post UME test conducted by various university. There is no doubt that most of those who scored high on UME, performed poorly in Post Ume test. This supports the argument that accepting a certificates based on face value is not proper because the results are deceptive.

Apart from  sponsoring their children in malpractice, most parents impose some course of study on their children. They do this without considering the child’s vocabulary, interest and ability. This is one of the causes of poor academic performance. Another problem is the lack of basic learning amenities, sometime infrastructural decay in public schools.

The decay in the education system goes beyond the physical aspect. It symbolises the wrath ravaging the entire system. Sound and efficient learning can never take place in such poor and non-academic classroom settings. Unfortunately we feign ignorance of the fact that what a student learns in primary school is what he builds on at the post primary level, and a sound secondary education is a good platform for a successful high institution education. It is not astonishing today to come across university graduates who are unable to express themselves in good English, the official language of Nigeria. Such graduate studied in the Nigerian universities where the language of education is English. They came out with good honours degree but American and Japan wouldn’t have been where they are today, if they have emphasised on certificate at the detriment of knowledge, talents, potentials and skills. The government of the above mentioned countries, invest heavily in human development through education not reproduction of certificate. It is high time we began to look beyond certificates and class of degree in getting the best brains. A first class degree holder does not necessarily mean first class. Knowledge or brain. The author of the “Fight Against Abuse of the Nigerian  Child” did not go beyond primary school education, but she is by far better than some degree holders. She has written two good books thereby contributing immensely to the growth of the society. So what are we talking about? What is certificate without a corresponding knowledge? Let us give everyone a chance irrespective of the degree or certificate he or she possesses.

Chibuike is a student of Imo State University, Owerri.